UTILIZATION OF AMERICAN FLAX STRAW. 21 
board was pronounced by the fiber-board employees and the man- 
agement officials to be equal to those boards of this class in which 
imported flax waste is used, and it was sold on the market by the 
cooperating mill as a second-grade counter board at the regular 
price of such boards, namely, 5 to 5 J cents per pound (fig. 8). 
The thin boards of this run were somewhat soft and the thick 
boards were somewhat brittle, which naturally would be the case, 
since each thickness of board requires that the stock be beaten ac- 
cordingly. 
Additional tests. — Three other complete tests were made like the 
two above recorded, and although the results were not as satisfactory 
as those of No. 235, the board was sold as second-grade counter board 
and no complaint has been received from it. 
Fig. 8. — A package of counter boards, in the manufacture of which domestic flax 
upholstering tow was employed in place of imported flax waste. Size of boards, 
33 by 44 inches. 
Unfortunately, no methods of testing boards have been devised 
which give the results as a numerical expression, the usual method 
being to bend and fold the board with the fingers in different man- 
ners, according to the use to which the board is to be employed, and 
noting the degree with which it breaks or cracks. 
YIELD OF PRODUCT AND COMPARATIVE COSTS. 
It is impossible in the mill tests to determine the yield of washed 
or available fiber derived from the straw and tow, even as compared 
with imported flax waste. The general opinion of the management 
and employees who followed the tests was that there was no ap- 
preciable difference in yield so far as could be determined by observa- 
tion during the tests. 
Laboratory determinations of the yield of washed fiber on 6-pound 
samples of flax straw, medium flax tow, and the best grade of im- 
ported flax waste gave the results shown in Table VIII. 
